Last day in Paris ...

It is Tuesday, October 4.  My flight is first thing tomorrow morning so I spent the day getting organized and just walking around.

I returned my bike to the shop on the Quay de la Tournelle just opposite to Notre Dame Cathedral.  It was really great having it.  Despite walking being the best way to see the city and window shop, it was a great way to get some exercise and still see all the beautiful scenery with some speed to cover the distances.  Biking here is not for the faint of heart, given the crazy drivers of cars and scooters who buzz by you in very close quarters at great speeds.  But if you have your wits about you - and take advantage of the numerous bike lanes around - it is not too bad.  I survived - and with only the one incident where my bike seat was stolen.  I really do think that it is a better option rather than renting a scooter - less dangerous and better for the environment!

On my last day, I thought that I would try out a gastromical treat that I have been eyeing for some time now.  Rue Rosiers is just at the end of my block and I think I mentioned before is the heart of the Jewish section of town.  The street is full of fallafel take-out places, the most famous being L'as du Fallafel. 

The place is always jammed with people and they are usually lined up 50 deep on the weekend with both tourists and Parisiens.  You can always tell when you are getting close to rue Rosiers by the smell of fallafels and the fact that most people are walking around with these huge pita pockets in their hands and trying to eat them with a fork.

The fallafel was delicious - and so big that even though I had it for lunch, I'm still wasn't hungry until about 9:00 pm!

It was also a great day just to walk around.  The crowds seemed to have thinned somewhat from before so that was good.  I visited Ile St. Louis, a favourite of mine, and actually managed to avoid the ice cream stands (being too full from the fallafel!).  Also, I wandered around the Marais - including having a nice stroll around the Place des Vosges, which is fitting since that was the first place that Alan and I visited when we arrived in Paris some three weeks ago.

I loved the side of this building in the Marais with the vines covering most of the wall - with the pretty colours which reminds me of the fall, my favourite season.  The weather here has been spectacular for the last couple of weeks - hot and sunny - which usually meant a light shirt only from morning to late evening.  However, I understand that it will be fall weather when I return to Vancouver.



As I reflect on this holiday, it really has been an unusual one for me - this is the first time I have ever taken 5 weeks for a holiday and it has only been possible with my new position.  This is also the first time that I was on my own for a substantial part of the holiday. 

Visiting Normandy and Paris has been wonderful - in particular, the WWI and WWII history that I learned on this trip has been amazing.  I continue to be in awe of the enormity of the D-Day endeavour and really enjoyed learning other aspects of the world wars that I did not really know before - which came not only from Normandy but from Vimy and the various museums in Paris. 

Of course, enjoying Paris has been a treat - the wonderful wine, cheese, food in general, museums, churches, etc.  And even though I had been here before and seen many of the sites, it never really seems old.

There have been a few things that I have not enjoyed so much - like the traffic, noise (did I mention that I am awake all night with the traffic and get to sleep just in time for the garbage trucks at 6 am!), litter and smoking.  It might just be me, but it seems like a lot of people smoke here - or maybe its just that smoking here seems to cut across all stratum of society, whereas I think most people in my personal and professional life do not smoke.  The motto from the women here is "I'd rather be dead, than fat!".  They have made some progress here in France - smoking is not allowed in restaurants - but it is allowed on the patios so depending on where you are in the restaurant, its like banning peeing only in the shallow end of the pool.  Plus non-smokers have to retreat inside which is not fair when it is so much cooler to be right next to the sidewalk!

However, for all that I enjoyed myself, I am looking forward to getting home - to my family (husband, children, mother, my puppy Murphy, and my cat Max), friends and life in general (and yes, including work).  I'm also anxious to see how our many renovation projects are going.  Our deck at home is being replaced - since the old one is leaking.  And Alan and I are just starting renovations to our Whistler townhouse which should make a big difference in the layout and our enjoyment of the place.  And of course, ski season is coming up fast - and I have to get in shape for that!!

Thanks to everyone who followed this blog.  I enjoyed creating the blog (with Morgan's help) and also, of course, doing the posting my comings and goings.  And thanks to Alan, Conor, Ben and Kathy for being my (un)willing subjects of pictures and stories for the blog.  I also want to thank Bob Kwong, Alan's old friend who is professional photographer, who recommended my new camera to me - the Canon G12.  I have never been so pleased with a camera - and have been really pleased with the pictures, many of which have been posted on the blog (all errors in the pictures have been those of the photographer, not of the camera!)

Speaking of pictures, here is the last one.  This one was taken in the Marais just outside of the restaurant where I had dinner tonight.  It is part of the National Archives building and is the site of President Nicolas Sarkozy's controversial museum dedicated to the history of France, due to open in 2015.  It looks quite "nationalistic" even now with the stately building and the flags.  Viva la France!!

Well, my packing is done - and the apartment is cleaned up.  Charles de Gaulle Airport awaits in the morning.  So, I am signing off now.  I will see everyone on the other side of the pond.  Au revoir et à bientôt!

Monday, October 3

Not much to report on today.  I did some last minute shopping at Galleries Lafayette and then walked back home.

Another stroll past the fabulous Opera house - and another photo!

I did pass by the Pompidou Centre and discovered this delightful fountain - full of odd things ...  No doubt it would be lovely in front of Roddy and Kathy's house when that new couch arrives from the Pompidou (see earlier blog).





And back to the Marais - my neighbourhood. 

One thing that has always amazed me is the parking situation here in Paris.  Not much space for all these people and cars.  And the parallel parking is unbelievable - in many cases a person can't even squeeze between the cars.  I am always in awe of these situations - since I'm not much of a parallel parker myself - and always require extra room to get in.  Anyway, here is an example of a Smart Car parked on rue Elziver - god knows how he gets it out!!!

Tonight, I tried a new restaurant in the St. Germain area - called Ze Kitchen Gallery on rue Grand Augustins.  It was recommended to me by one of my cooking classmates from Seattle.  The food and presentation was quite wonderful.

And of course - more pictures of Paris from my walk both to and from the restaurant.  Just can't get enough of Notre Dame and those fabulous gargoyles!

 

And finally, what may be one of my better pictures of the trip (IMHO), the Paris skyline at dusk from the Pont Neuf with the sun behind Hotel Invalides and the Eiffel Tower off to the right - voila!

Sunday, October 2

Well, I woke up thinking that I might have been dreaming last night about the crowds, etc.  Turns out I wasn't.  Paris hosts its "Nuit Blanche" at this time - a contemporary art festival which translates into "White Night" but in reality means "All-nighter".  It runs from Saturday into early - or should I say late Sunday morning.  So, the hordes of people who were still streaming by my window at 5 am were really there for a reason!  And they left just in time for the garbage truck to arrive around 6:30 am.

So I was off early for more sightseeing of Paris, whether I wanted to or not!

First stop, the Shoah or Holocaust Museum which is located just a couple of blocks from my apartment in the Marais.  The memorial is quite compelling and is a tribute to the 76,000 Jewish men, women and children deported from France in WWII to the Nazi concentration and death camps - with only a small fraction to survive. 

There is an alley on the way to the memorial - which was renamed as the Allee des Justes.  On one side it commemorates the people who helped the Jews (see plaque) and the other side is to memorialize the actions of the many who not only did not, but who actively supported the victimization of them.

There is extremely tight security around the memorial.  For example, you have to exit into an antechamber and only after the door is closed behind everyone is the outside door opened to the street.

And if you think the sensitivities from 65 years ago are forgotten, think again. Just today, there were denouncements of an IPhone app developed by a Jewish guy to name whether celebrities were Jewish or not - http://www.france24.com/en/20110915-why-calling-jew-still-taboo-france-apple-iphone-remove-app-jewish-database.  It has been said to be in violation of a French law which prohibits classifying people by race or religion.




Another expedition down rue Rivoli to the Champs Elysees, where again I survived the roundabout at the Place de la Concorde.  As per usual, the crowds were everywhere - and as usual, lined up to get inside the Louis Vuitton boutique!

I stopped to admire the Grand Palais and Petit Palais that are both just before the Champs Elysees - both of which were built in 1900 to house various art exhibits.  They are truly magnificent pieces of architecture.

Entrance to Petit Palais

Petit Palais

 

Grand Palais



Quadriga statue on Grand Palais

The Eiffel Tower still beckoned - so I went further along the right bank to the Trocadero.  I saw a picture of the statutes on the square of the Palais de Chaillot that I wanted to try to replicate.  Here it is my meagre attempt.

I have finally figured how to bike back to the east on the right bank - along various bike corridors.

Along the way, right next to the Grand and and Petit Palais, is the Pont Alexandre III - which leads over the Seine to Invalides. It has been called one of the prettiest bridges in Paris, with good reason since it has four of these magnificent structures on each end and each side.

Final stop - a museum which is located just a few blocks from me - called the Musee Cognacq-Jay.  This museum houses the collection of the couple who founded Paris' largest department store, La Samaritaine, which has now been closed down and is being developed I think into a hotel. In any event, a lovely collection - including a Rembrandt and a Rubens.



A concert ....

Today,  was a lot of walking - along Boulevard St. Germain, which is always a good people watching exercise.

In any event, tonight I went to a concert at Saine Chapelle - the wonderful church on Ile de la Cite that I described before.  It was a wonderful collage of baroque music - with the harpsichord (not my favourite instrument) and a violin and clarinet.   It was a wonderful setting in the old church, after a entry through the Palais de la Justice, as described in my earlier blogs.



Walking through the Palais de Justice


 
















I was expecting to walk home tonight and have a lovely dinner at some cafe. Unfortunately, it didn't out that way - by the time I got to the Hotel de Ville (City Hall) there were so many crowds that you could hardly get down the street.   I don't know what is happening but it is frightfully busy and crowded.  I couldn't even get into a neighbourhood restaurant that I wanted to try out.

Even now, the crowds have spread to my neighbourhood and there is lot of noise, etc.    I really don't know if this is normal (although I didn't seen to notice last Friday) or if I'm just getting old and stuffy!!  Maybe the young people are storming the Bastille and I haven't been told!!!

In any event, I have three more days en Paris - will report in due course....